Godzilla vs. Ghost Godzilla

Japanese Title

ゴジラVSゴーストゴジラ
[Gojira vs. Gosutogojira]

More than forty years after the death of the original Godzilla, the nuclear leviathan's restless spirit emerges from the depths of Tokyo Bay. In an effort to materialize itself, Ghost Godzilla possesses the body of Little Godzilla, forcing the young monster's body to rapidly grow and mutate into the form of the malevolent specter's original body. This draws the attention of the present day Godzilla, Anguirus, and Anguirus Hound. The four monsters then converge in a war that threatens the entirety of Japan.

LOST PROJECT HISTORY

While the idea for Godzilla vs. Godzilla was short-lived, it inspired the idea for a concept with a similar premise. Instead of time travel, this project saw the King of the Monsters fight his 1954 "ancestor" in another fashion. The movie was going to go for a more fantasy-based approach than previous Godzilla entries, as the 1950's Godzilla was going to be revived as a ghost during the film in order to have him square off with his modern day counterpart. The resulting battle would have eventually led to the death of the Heisei era Godzilla. The project was eventually scrapped, though, with director Takao Okawara citing that three movies in a row where Godzilla faces off against creatures that resemble him (Mechagodzilla in 1993 and SpaceGodzilla in 1994) was simply too much.

In terms of supporting cast, Little Godzilla would have become the unfortunate host of Ghost Godzilla, while Anguirus was set to appear in some capacity, as concept art was commissioned to try and design a "Heisei series version" of the character, as well as the enigmatic Anguirus Hound whom little is known about.

Monsters

Background and Trivia

The article picture featuring Ghost Godzilla was done through Toho Kingdom's interpretation of a concept drawing of the monster.

This movie is sometimes also referenced in Japanese media as "Godzilla vs. Godzilla" (Japanese: 『ゴジラVSゴジラ』), though not to be confused with the previous draft of the same name.

The inclusion of Anguirus was suggested by Toho monster designer Shinji Nishikawa, as noted in his book Shinji Nishikawa: Drawing Book of Godzilla (ISBN: 480030959X). Nishikawa felt the movie's monster roster needed some variety outside of just Godzilla incarnations, and Anguirus was a fairly popular monster among Japanese audiences.

In the same book, Nishikawa brings up a discussion he had with director Kazuki Omori and Koichi Kawakita at a bar in Shinjuku, in which the idea of "Godzilla dies" was at last decided, with the Godzilla vs. Ghost Godzilla draft being the first to implement it. This idea would carry over into future drafts, all the way up to the final product of Godzilla vs. Destoroyah (1995).

Little Godzilla becoming possessed by Ghost Godzilla is one of the very few known drafts of the movie. Another draft, and one more commonly known, says that Godzilla Junior appears as an adult and does battle with Ghost Godzilla. Whichever the draft, Anguirus was still intended to have an appearance, as well as the strange inclusion of Anguirus Hound, whose role is never discussed. This secondary draft and the mention of Anguirus and its subspecies are briefly covered in Koichi Kawakita's book Heisei Godzilla Chronicle (ISBN: 4873763193).